Gossamer
Cho Tsuwang was born the only daughter of Hung Tsuwang, a drug lord in the service of Snapdragon* in the Chinatown of Mesa, in Darkness Falls. Though Chyou, westernizing her name to Kelly, wanted for nothing because of her father's wealth she always knew deep down that the lifestyle her father created for herself and her mother was wrong. When she turned eleven years old, Kelly complained of severe pain in her wrists and fingers. The doctors could find nothing wrong, so they put it down to arthritis. When Kelly turned thirteen years old her mutant powers surfaced. She was fascinated by them, and kept them carefully hidden; even after she mastered them. Her father had a close run-in with some inquisitive superheroes, and the encounter terrified Kelly. She decided then and there to become a superhero herself and topple her father's criminal empire; partly to turn her father into a decent honest man and partly to save him from imprisonment for the rest of his life. Gossamer soon became the thorn in the side of her father's empire. The silent martial artist with spider-like abilities destroyed drug labs, arrested Snapdragon's top men, and disrupted deliveries and sales. Snapdragon began to feel the financial pinch within six months, and ordered a hit on the fledgeling hero. Snapdragon devised a trap for Gossamer, and instructed Hung Tsuwang to put out the word in the superhero community that his daughter had been kidnapped and that superheroic intervention was desperately needed. The members of the Heroes Unlimited-Doctor Tesla, Xin, Thumbelina, Breakdown, and Brahma-responded. They met with Hung and promised to retrieve his 'kidnapped' daughter. During the investigation, the heroes made inquiries within a Chinese restaurant that was a front for one of Snapdragon's drug labs, and the result was an immediate attack by several of Snapdragon's underlings. During the course of the fight Kelly, as Gossamer, arrived and mistook the heroes for criminals. A short battle ensued, ending only when the heroes properly identified themselves and explained their mission. (Much to Kelly's surprise.) Gossamer accompanied the team into Snapdragon's lair, where Kelly was unable to enter because of her abject phobia of the dark. The League battled Snapdragon and were soundly defeated, but did manage to cause Snapdragon to retreat. The heroes rescued several young women that had been captured for human trafficking but did not find Kelly. They returned to Hung to announce their failure, and Kelly revealed herself. When Hung realized that Gossamer was his daughter, he retired from criminal activites. Sadly, he paid for that choice with his life, which haunts Kelly to this day. Kelly agreed to join Heroes Unlimited as Gossamer. While battling a criminal known as The Vortex alone, Kelly was caught in a wormhole and ejected into another dimension, where she survived for seventeen years before returning to Paradigm City. Time worked differently in the other dimension; for Kelly seventeen years passed but for her allies only 36 hours went by before her return. Her team mates were stunned to discover that one day Kelly was a thirteen year old, and the next she was 35. They accepted her, however, and helped her to gain a life in Darkness Falls. As a civil attorney now, using the false identity of Kelly Cho, Gossamer serves the team both as its legal adviser and representative; and also as the hero Gossamer whom has chosen to become the self-appointed defender of Mesa's Chinatown. Personality Kelly Cho is a very determined and intense woman. Though she possesses and quite often uses her dry wit and undercutting sense of humor her apparent go-lucky attitude is a false front for all the sorrow and grief she holds inside. She feels responsible for the death of her father and is ceaseless in trying to find the name of the assassin that murdered him so as to bring him to justice. Being named one of the Core Leaders by Cleopatra has given Kelly a very deep sense of pride and gratitude. She understands that she is one of the public faces of Heroes Unlimited and is therefore socially cautious and always follows the letter of law. Because of an incident in her early childhood where she was locked into a closet by a nanny, Kelly has an intense phobia of the dark. She sleeps with a night light. Powers Gossamer is a genetic mutant with physical capabilities reminiscent of a spider. Her hands and feet are covered in microscopic setules, which allow her to cling to sheer surfaces, including glass and ice. While clinging she is able to move normally, scaling vertical surfaces at regular movement speed. She can even run at normal speed up the side of a wall. Her setules allow her to sprint along the tops of fences, along ropes, or other narrow surfaces without fear of falling. Gossamer's agility and reflexes operate at meta-human levels, so much so that she is often considered the most agile hero in Paradigm City. She can defeat an entire gang of normal criminals alone, as she did once when she arrested fourteen Mesa Devils by herself. In her most famous 'adventure' she assisted local Law enforcement in testing upgrades to Tranquility, a small prison sub-branch of Stronghold. During the test her arch-enemy, Arsenic, disabled the prison's cell doors which housed many gang members and a few superhuman criminals, most notably Powderkeg, Reptile, and Night Owl. Acting alone, Gossamer was able to detain every single criminal and return them to their cells.She then promptly escaped the prison, which caused the designers to eqip Tranquility with greater incarceration capabilities. Each of Gossamer's wrists have four spinnerets, which allow her to shoot strands of an organic substance similar to spider silk. Though the silk initially comes out as a liquid, contact with the air causes it to solidify to an equivalent strength of titanium. This 'webbing' allows her to bind opponents and throw lines which she uses as a mode of transportation. Her skill with her webbing is so precise she has developed a unique fighting ability with it (see below). Lastly, Gossamer possesses super-human strength and rapid healing. She can hoist approximately three and a half tons of weight and perform a standing jump of 40 feet. Because of her rapid healing cuts, bumps, and bruises vanish within minutes; which is useful when Gossamer beats up a thug and has to appear in court 20 minutes later. Otherwise she heals at the same rate as an ordinary person. Fighting Prowess Gossamer has been called one of the most formidable combatants in Paradigm City. She is a black belt in the Chinese martial art of Choy-Li-Fut, which she learned directly from her father. The Choy-Li-Fut style is extremely aggressive and in close. Gossamer prefers to use her kung-fu when dealing with minorr threats or facing martial artists; she will advance aggressively hoping to intimidate her opponent and then utilizing a variety of hand strikes such as fore-knuckle fists, backhands, circular parries, or elbow strikes. One of her favorite tactics is to sweep the legs out of her enemy so that one of her blaster team-mates can strike the helpless foe when he's down. Gossamer has developed a unique fighting style that utilizes her webbing ability. Her style is so recognizable that all of the techniques have been named by her peers in Heroes Unlimited. The signature moves are as follows: * Snare: Gossamer simply weaves a layer of webbing over a foe, pinning him to a nearby wall. * Web of Lies: Gossamer spins a double stream of webbing out in a cone shape, enabling her to snare multiple foes at once. * Web of Deceit: Gossamer fires a single blob of webbing at a foe's face, inhibiting his ability to see until he can tear the webbing off. * Web of Intrigue: Using acrobatics and gymnastics Gossamer leaps and bounces around an area, firing globs of webbing at multiple foes. * Web Tornado: Gossamer ensnares a foe with a short line of webbing. Then she spins around as if performing a hammer throw. After a few spins, she releases the web line to dash her enemy into a nearby solid object, * Slingshot: Gossamer entraps an opponent on a short line of webbing and whips him into a nearby wall. In a variation, called Upsy-Daisy, she will snare a foe on a short line of webbing; yank him up and over her head, and smash him down onto the ground on the other side of herself. * Web and Chain: Gossamer fires two lines of webbing, snaring parked cars or mailboxes or even ripping up chunks of pavement and smashes her enemies; much like a wrecking ball. * Swat the Fly: With this technique, Gossamer leaps from a tall structure and begins to free fall. Just before the moment of impact with the ground she spins a webline and swings at terminal velocity feet first into her foe. Because this technique can be fatal against normal people Gossamer reserves this move for tankers and heavily armored enemies. Rogues Gallery Gossamer has a fine reputation in Darkness Falls and in the greater Paradigm City area. She is known to be an honorable hero, keeping her word and doing her utmost to use her powers within the bounds of the law. Like many notable heroes, Gossamer has earned her own personal rogues gallery. Cottonmouth '''and Gossamer have clashed numerous times, so much so that Cottonmouth loathes Gossamer and will go to extremes to see her annihilated. Cottonmouth is Gossamer's Arch-Nemesis, constantly thinking up plots to lure the heroine out into the open and see her annihilated.Gossamer is always on the watch for Genoice Agenda activity which she knows will lead her, eventually, back to Cottonmouth. '''Silk '''has earned a place in Gossamer's rouges gallery for the astonishing act of defeating Gossamer the first time they met, when Silk was still a novice. A Robin Hood-esque criminal, Silk consistently manages to come into conflict with Gossamer when she plies her trade of grand Larceny in Darkness Falls' Chinatown. '''Night Owl is a mastermind martial artist and Dickension crime boss that has seen his little child minion army dwindle in size consistently thanks to Gossamer's meddling. Night Owl actually respects Gossamer for being able to outwit him, so he consistenly creates death traps and other terrors for the heroine to see how she will think her way out of it.